Disclaimer: Twilight related = Stephenie Meyer, Lost in Austen related = Guy Andrews.

A/N: Okay, I know, it's been a while and I deserve to be beaten down and shot. I've been busy and lazy. Also, according to a friend of mine, something needs to happen. So I'll just let you know, that things will start to pick up soon from their rather slow state. As for now, enjoy the new chapter, I apologize for grammatical errors and I'll get working on the next chap ASAP. :)

Return to Meyer

10. Discussions

I sat silently on the edge of my bed, my gaze fixed firmly on a plain spot on the opposite wall. I blinked, thinking back to how exactly I'd ended up back in Bella's room so fast.

Oh, that's right. I'd opened my big mouth.

There I was, lying in the sunlight with Edward – and a human Edward at that – and I'd gone and ruined it with my whole 'Laurent is attacking people in the vicinity' comment. After realising the importance of what I was saying, it hadn't taken Edward very long to jump into action. Before I'd known what was happening, we were walking back through the double dimensional door and he was carrying me at top speed through the trees.

To top things off, he'd dropped me off at Charlie's with the words, "Stay here until I get back. That means no wandering through the forest. I've got to bring this up with Carlisle." At this he'd kissed me on the forehead and told me he'd "be back soon." Why is it that nobody tells me anything?

Over the next hour, I moved around the bedroom restlessly. A few pages of a book, a scribbled sketch on the edge of a piece of paper, hair up, hair down…

Suddenly, the sound of rustling leaves startled me. I glanced at the window sill, my eyes wide with apprehension. Part of me hoped it was just Edward returning with news but the other, the more realistic voice, reminded me just how unsafe and exposed I was standing there.

What if it was Victoria? What if she'd come to finish the job finally?

I sucked in a breath, taking a step forward towards the sill, waiting for something to come through. Pausing, I listened. Silence.

Out of nowhere a shape flew through the window and landed crouched on the carpet. I cried out, taken off guard. "Whoa, Ash! Relax, it's just me." Jacob reassured me as he stood up, holding his hands out in front of him.

I breathed a sigh of relief, feeling my shoulders relax. "You're right. God, it's just you." Jacob smiled, happy that I seemed to be relieved to see him. Before he could react I casually picked up a book and wacked him with it.

"Hey!" He cried, raising his hands for protection.

"Stop doing that! Don't you know how to use the door?!" I yelled, annoyed at his ability to scare me.

He grinned arrogantly, putting his weight onto his left foot. "Did I scare you?" he chuckled.

The scowl deepened as I held the book up again threateningly. "No," I denied.

"Yes, you were." He replied.

Before we could start a whole new argument of 'yes you were,' 'no I wasn't', I interrupted. "Moving on, what are you doing here?" I crossed my arms across my chest expectantly. Usually Jacob didn't come swinging through open windows unless he had something "supernatural" to discuss. Then again, it wouldn't have mattered even if he had come in the normal way, Charlie wasn't home yet.

Jacob flinched slightly at my tone, giving me the impression that he was slightly hurt by the bluntness of my words. I sighed, "Sorry," I amended, softening my tone. "When I hadn't heard from you in a while, I thought you'd ditched me or something."

"I've been busy," He shot me an apologetic smile. I sat back on the bed and gestured beside me. He plunked down on the mattress as I tried to avert my eyes from his bare torso. Okay, I love Edward, but there is no denying that Jacob is hot in more ways than one. I'd gotten that much from Taylor Lautner's recent bulking up for New Moon.

One of his eyebrows rose as he watched me try to hide my awkwardness before grinning even more smugly than before. "I'm not making you uncomfortable am I?" he asked, knowing full well how I felt.
"Nope," I lied, focusing on his face.

He rolled his eyes, smile holding in place as he turned to business. "Anyway, like I said, I've been busy. We've been chasing that vampire you mentioned, the one who…" he paused, his eyes glancing over the places on body where Victoria's wounds had healed.

"Victoria, yes?" I clarified.

He remained silent for a few moments. By the look in his eyes, I could tell that he was trying to calm himself down. I would rather he didn't burst into a fluffy ball right in the middle of Charlie's house if he could help it. "Jake?" I pressed.

He breathed out in a rush, "I'm good." He answered my unasked question.

"You sure?"

Nodding, he returned to our conversation as though nothing had happened. "The bloodsucker was originally darting in and out across the border between here and Canada but eventually she slipped past us and headed back here."

"She's good at that." I added, thinking of Victoria's particular talent for escaping tight situations. According to Edward, it was probably one of the reasons James liked keeping her around as much as he did.

"Now she's making things difficult by crossing the treaty line."

I nodded, understanding what he meant. If Victoria wasn't on the wolves' side of the treaty line then crossing it could mean war for them and the Cullens. It was a problem that's resolution I hoped followed the plot line of the novels.

"Has your…" he began. I broke in, not wanting to hear another vampire related insult come from between Jake's lips.

"Edward,"

"Has he told you about the treaty?" I nodded, realising that answering yes to this question would be so much easier than coming up with some other explanation as to how I would understand this entire back story without having had Edward tell me about it. "Then you understand why we can't do much."

"I get it. You're doing what you can. What about Laurent?" I asked almost fearfully.

Jacob frowned, clearly agitated by this subject. "We've been patrolling the area as much as we can from our side of the line but nothing so far. Either he's backed off to avoid us or he's hunting elsewhere."

"By elsewhere, you mean…on the Cullen's side." I explained.

He nodded slightly before standing up and positioning himself in front of me. I looked up, suddenly feeling extremely small. "Look, don't worry Ash. We'll find them soon. Trust me." At that moment, I did trust him. Every muscle in his body exuded determination and surety. I just hoped that when he did find them that he avoided having his bones broken in multiple places like he did in Eclipse. I didn't think I could take that.

"You doing okay?" he asked all of a sudden, his eyes wide with concern. "You look….better." he observed simply.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. All I needed was a couple of chick flicks, some chocolate. You know the drill." I joked.

At that moment, in a very Edwardish and protective gesture, he reached down and tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear, his fingers lightly brushing my cheek as they were removed.

I smiled, "God, I wish I could take you home with me."

He grinned, "Home eh?"

Laughing, I nodded. "Yeah, I'd love to see you get completely mauled by the girls at my school. I'm not sure if it would wipe that smile off your face or make it permanent."

An odd look crossed his face, registering the confusion he felt at my words. "Don't worry. You'll understand someday. Trust me." I told him, repeating his earlier request.

Taking a few steps back, he ran a hand through his hair, letting it fall messily back into place. "I've got to run." He told me. I stood, following him.

"Of course you do, you've got vampires to track down." I reminded him. He rolled his eyes before holding coming over to encompass me in a bear hug.

The warmth of his skin surrounded me, a woody and earthy smell filling my nose. In some ways, Jacob reminded me of those summer days I spent when I went to visit my family up north. Days when we opened the patio doors to let the breeze come in and I sat drinking some sort of fizzy drink while my mum played scrabble. It was a comforting feeling. A reminder of home in such a foreign place.

He let me go and with a final wave, he slid out the window and down the tree onto the ground. I watched silently until he disappeared quickly until the trees.

I turned around and walked back towards the bed. Stopping, my limbs froze as the breeze hit the back of my neck. "Took you long enough," I said without turning around.

His voice rang out from behind me, as musical as always but tinged with the smallest part of annoyance. "Alice didn't want to interrupt the discussion with the fact that she had just lost your future in a vision of blackness."

Spinning around on my heel, I turned to face Edward who was now standing rigidly on the other side of the room. The tension rolled off of him in heavy waves. "Where is he?" He asked quietly but forcefully as I watched his eyes dart around the room predatorily. If I had to admit it, I'd say that it worried me more than a little.

"You just missed him." I replied. There was no need to deny it. He and I both knew that Jacob had been here. It took a couple of moments for the words to sink in but as soon as they did, his body relaxed ever so slightly, his nose wrinkling in disgust. "Sorry, I know you must hate the wet dog smell but you don't smell so great to him either."

"You shouldn't be spending time with him. Werewolves are dangerous and the people around them get hurt." He told me seriously.

"Edward, please don't make me have this argument with you. You've read the books, you know how this argument with Bella turned out and that Jacob is perfectly able to control himself."

His eyes narrowed. "You aren't Bella, things have changed." He paused, taking a casual step backwards before continuing. "Are you going to tell me that Paul or Sam have never lost control?" The shot was direct, him knowing perfectly well that it was something I couldn't deny. Emily's facial scars were proof enough.

"That's different." I said.

He shook his head as I watched him adjust his body position again, angling it further away from me. A nagging feeling having been set off at the back of my mind, I looked at him closely. "Edward, why do you keep stepping away from me every few seconds? I know the smell must be unpleasant but it's not that bad."

Examining his face closely as I hadn't before, my gaze zeroed in on his own. The lightbulb flickered on, leaving me with a distressing realization. "Why are your eyes so dark all of sudden?" I asked.

He looked away, subtly stepping back again but ignoring the question.

"Edward, relax. I trust you. I'm just asking why they're black all of a sudden after they were bright gold this morning." Glancing up, I could see that the dark shadows had returned under his eyes. Ones that, combined with the darkness of his irises, told me that he was hungry.

And not just hungry, starving.

"They've been like this ever since we came back through the door between worlds." He explained, his tone perfectly even.

"And you haven't fed yet?" I questioned.

Again he shook his head in response. "We've been discussing what there is to do about Laurent. I haven't had time in between that and coming here to ensure your safety."

"So what have you guys decided to do about our little problem?"

His expression darkened, thinking back to previous discussions. "As it is, according to Carlisle, our best chance of resolving things peacefully is to travel to Denali and try to talk things through."

Hmm…a visit to Tanya's family, huh? Now that sounded like an interesting afternoon. "Sounds like a good idea." I agreed with a nod.

"Besides," he went on, "I would hate things to end up as they did at the end of Breaking Dawn. Our families have known each other too long for something like this to disrupt our previous harmony."

Seeing his growing discomfort, I chose to step back this time. There was no point having him here if he wasn't going to be like this. I'd only ever seen him this hungry on the very first day I'd met him. A day where he supposedly spent every second trying not to rip my throat out. If I was going to do the smart thing, I'd let him go.

"Edward, you better go hunt. Being this close to me in a small room is killing you." I admitted aloud to both him and myself. At this, he stared into my directly for the first time since his arrival, a look of gratitude for my understanding clear inside his eyes.

After a momentary pause, he crossed the room in a few long strides, placing himself directly in front of me. Smoothly, he pressed his icy lips to my forehead. When I looked up, he was gone.

God, life is so much more complicated in a fictional world.

A/N: There you go. Hopefully it wasn't a too bad a read. Anyway, like I said, getting to work on the next chapter now. It should be up soon. Remember to review.

Next time on Return to Meyer: The Cullen family is off to Denali to visit some old friends but with Ashley determined to tag along, Edward and Jacob both in agreement about something for once and the reason for some of their problems at the other end of the line, how will things play out?

Next Time.